Sri Vageesha Priyah eSouvenir May 2014 | Seite 289

in Kumbhakonam and received an estimate of Rs.1.3 lakh for the vigraham and mantapam. Adding
other associated costs, I estimated that we needed about US $4000 at the 2010 exchange rates. I
then composed a short solicitation letter explaining our intention to bring Sri Lakshmi Hayagreeva
vigraham and a dolai mantapam on a tour of the US later that year and sought yathaa shakti
contributions from prospective sponsors of dolai / tirumanjanam and that they could later apply
their contributions towards their sponsorship fee for the function. Naïve as it may seem, I e-mailed
this solicitation letter requesting an URGENT response to the very same yahoo groups in the US from
out of whom I had received just two responses only a few months go! But, I saw no other way.
However, there was one BIG difference this time. This time, I sent it with the blessings of the
Acharya behind me. I couldn’t believe myself when pledges for contributions started pouring in and
in many cases, the donors pledged an outright additional contribution rather than apply them to
their dolai sponsorship fee. We had all the pledges we needed within a week! Simultaneously about
twenty people also had booked for tirumanam/dolai functions at their homes. This was a miraculous
turnaround from a hopeless to a hopeful situation. As we will be seen from rest of this narrative, this
was only the first of a series of such turnarounds. I can only ascribe these to the power of the
Acharya anugraham and the kataksham of our dolai Lakshmi Hayagreeva Perumal. While we had the
pledges from the donors, we still had to wait for a few weeks to actually receive the money in
Bangalore. To place the order with the sthapati, we had to pay them a significant sum of money in
advance. When I went with a request to the Acharya for an advance payment to go with the order,
he was kind enough to pay it from the Matham with just an oral assurance from me, a total stranger,
that the amount would be repaid. The sthapati constructed a three dimensional wax mould from
which the dolai vgrahm was to be cast in pancha loham. Pictures of the wax mould were sent to
Mysore for Acharya’s approval. Acharya took a great deal of interest and examined the pictures in
minute detail. He asked for some changes to be made in the mould. He gave his approval only after a
few back-and-forth exchanges between him and the sthapati.
The finished vigraham and gold-plated dolai mantapam were due for delivery at the end of April
2011 but the sthapati went on delaying the delivery giving one excuse or the other week after week.
Since I had plans to return to US in early May, I was getting increasingly anxious about it. It was
therefore of some relief when I learnt that my son wanted to celebrate our grandson’s upanayanam
at Bangalore during the first week of July and hence wanted me to postpone my return to the US to
a later date. However, I learnt that Acharya was scheduled to leave for Hyderabad in June for the
samprokShanam of the Temple there and he would be away for several weeks.
In the meanwhile, I had been looking for a suitable priest whom we could hire to accompany the
dolai Perumal on the US tour. This process was not as easy as I had assumed. It became a frustrating
effort when one after the ot